Solid oral dosage form of irinotecan for the treatment of cancer

1. A solid oral pharmaceutical composition comprising a compound of formula I

as a free base or a salt thereof, wherein the compound of formula (I) is solubilized in a mixture comprising (a) a vehicle, wherein the vehicle is selected from a saturated or unsaturated fatty acid of between 8-24 carbon atoms in length and a polyethylene glycol, having an average molecular weight of at least 3000 and (b) a water soluble non-ionic surfactant, wherein the water-soluble surfactant is selected from poloxamers, a tocopherol polyethylene glycol succinate derivative, lauroyl polyoxylglycerides, polysorbate 80, polyoxyl 40 hydrogenated castor oil, polyoxyl 35 castor oil, caprylocaproyl macrogolglycerides, polyoxyl 15 hydroxystearate and polyoxyethylene 10 oleyl ether, wherein the compound of formula I is in a solid core comprising about 0.5% to about 30% by weight of the compound of formula I.

2. The composition of claim 1 wherein the compound of formula I is the free base.

3. The composition of claim 1 wherein the compound of formula I is a hydrate.

4. The composition of claim 1 wherein the solid composition is coated with an enteric coating.

5. The composition of claim 4 , wherein the enteric coating is insoluble in gastric juice and in intestinal juice below a predetermined pH in a human subject, but soluble in intestinal juice above the predetermined pH in the human subject.

6. The composition of claim 5 , wherein the predetermined pH in the human subject is in a range from about 4.5 to about 7.

7. The composition of claim 1 wherein the vehicle comprises a saturated or unsaturated fatty acid of between 8-24 carbon atoms in length.

8. The composition of claim 1 wherein the vehicle comprises polyethylene glycol.

9. The composition of claim 1 comprising from about 2% to about 8% by weight of the compound of formula I.

10. The composition of claim 1 wherein the fatty acid is selected from linoleic acid (18:2), oleic acid (18:1), palmitic acid (16), linolenic acid (18:3), and stearic acid (18:0), and mixtures thereof, wherein the first number in the brackets refers to the number of carbon atoms in the fatty acid chain, and the second number refers to the degree of unsaturation.

11. The composition of claim 1 wherein the surfactant is Vitamin E polyethylene glycol succinate.

12. The composition of claim 1 wherein the vehicle a PEG having an average molecular weight of about 6000 present in an amount from about 20 to about 60 w/w %, based on the total weight of the pharmaceutical composition.

13. The composition of claim 1 wherein the surfactant is poloxamer.

14. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the fatty acid contains between 16-18 carbon atoms.

15. A solid oral pharmaceutical composition comprising a compound of formula I

as a free base or a salt thereof, wherein the compound of formula (I) is solubilized in a mixture comprising a vehicle and a non-ionic surfactant, wherein the vehicle is a fatty acid of between 8-24 carbon atoms in length or PEG and the surfactant is a pegylated tocopherol, wherein the compound of formula I is in a solid core comprising about 0.5% to about 30% by weight of the compound of formula I and is present in an amount from about 1 to about 100 mg.

16. The composition of claim 15 wherein the mixture of the vehicle and surfactant is a mixture of a fatty acid of between 8-24 carbon atoms in length and pegylated tocopherol and, in a proportion on a weight/weight basis of from about 1:3 to about 10:1.

17. The composition of claim 16 wherein the fatty acid is palmitic acid and the pegylated tocopherol is vitamin E TPGS.

18. The composition of claim 15 wherein the mixture of the vehicle and the surfactant is a mixture of PEG and pegylated tocopherol.

19. The composition of claim 15 wherein the mixture of the vehicle and the surfactant is a mixture of PEG 6000 and vitamin E TPGS at a weight ratio from 6:4 to about 20:1.